Editorial Guidelines
You want a resource you can trust, and you can count on Sifter because we take the time to research and fact-check all articles. First and foremost, our writers come with industry experience so that they know what consumers and business owners need from products and services. From there, they spend hours researching topics to develop the content. Once that is complete, our editorial staff fact-checks and reviews each article for accuracy. Through all of this, we maintain an unbiased approach to reviewing and rating companies.
We use the following parameters to define the “best” answers:
Accuracy:
We focus on up-to-date content with the most accuracy.
Clarity:
We write our articles in a straightforward manner.
Authority:
We use subject matter experts whose knowledge you can rely on.
Objectivity:
Because our writers don’t know who we work with, they can be objective about the benefits and drawbacks of any company we review.
To ensure we’re meeting those parameters, we ask ourselves:
Who?
We speak from the perspective of our readers, who have questions and are looking for answers.
What?
We strive to comprehend the questions asked so that we can respond appropriately.
What else?
We use our subject expertise to go deeper into a question and assist the reader in formulating and answering questions they didn’t think to ask.
Where?
We consider the reader’s ultimate goal so that we can provide them with the necessary information and tools to succeed.
How?
We assess products and services so that readers don’t have to sift through data on their own.
Editorial independence
Sifter uses a team of independent writers and editors responsible for researching, developing, and writing content. The viewpoints, positive or negative, are exclusively those of the writer. We base our content on facts and rely on publicly available information to formulate opinions. Our writers are not compensated for clicks but instead get paid per article for honest and accurate information.
- Our editorial team of 130 editors, writers and others is exclusively responsible for creating all editorial content, including articles, reviews, guides and lists.
- The viewpoints expressed in our product reviews are solely editorial, based on thorough research, assessment and comparison with similar products. Product reviews are objective, factual and based on the actual features of the products.
- Sifter’s business partners and advertisers do not influence our product reviews or other editorial decisions.
- Editorial team members never receive direct compensation from NerdWallet’s business partners or advertisers.
- Our editorial team’s performance evaluations and compensation are not affected by favorable or unfavorable product reviews, nor influenced by
business partners or advertisers.
Plagiarism and Duplication Policy
Sifter has no space for plagiarism. If the content is found to be plagiarized, it is promptly removed from the platform and rewritten. We terminate the contracts of any writers who are caught plagiarizing.
Fact-checking and corrections
Mistakes may happen, but they are addressed as soon as they are discovered. We take fact-checking seriously and look at each article for errors. If an error is found, we rectify it immediately and publish the correct information promptly.
- All editorial content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and relevance. We strive to ensure the information in each article is current as of the article’s
publication date. - All content flows through a careful fact-checking process involving writers, assigning editors and copy editors.
- Our writers rely on primary sources and authoritative sources, including interviews and government and industry websites, data and documents, to ensure our content is as clear and complete as possible.
- When we make a factual error, we post a correction on the article where the error occurred.